


Baby Blues

by lunaseemoony



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-12-25 13:43:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12037092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaseemoony/pseuds/lunaseemoony
Summary: Grandma Jackie reminisces with the littlest Tyler when she rescues his mum and dad one evening





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little ditty for timepetalsprompts prompt ‘blue eyes’

“I’m just sayin’, it wouldn’t kill ya to let your mum n dad get a few winks here and there,” Jackie mused at her grandson between warm hums of an old lullaby the little tot’s mum used to love when she was a baby herself. Worked like a charm of course. “Not that I mind comin’ over.” She grinned and stroked his dark chocolate eyebrows. 

Jackie and baby Peter Tyler bathed in the moon’s cool rays, rocking to the peaceful symphony of Jackie’s humming, late summer crickets, and a warm breeze sneaking in through the lightly cracked bay window. She jumped at the chance to get out of her house away from the football game and Tony’s video games. Crying grandbaby? Easy. 

“They’re new at this but I’m an old hat. So you can be as stubborn as ya like but I’m gonna win so you might as well stop fighting it and go to sleep. Just like your mum, you are.”  

His mum was leaned up against the wall in her husband’s arms, the pair of exhausted new parents refusing to let a gran do her job. They fell asleep two minutes after Jackie got baby Peter quiet. To their credit they did last two weeks before giving in and ringing Jackie for help. 

“They was being nice sayin’ you got me eyes, but I think we both know you got ‘em from your dad, eh?” 

There was no denying it. Peter’s eyes were as cool as the pale moonlight shining on his pink cheeks. She’d even wager he inherited those goofy ears too. Maybe it was early to say but his dark hair was too tame to come from John. “Spittin’ image of him, you are.” It was no secret to anyone that Jackie had hated the alien and his stupid face but seeing it on her grandchild changed everything. 

Peter won out in the end and they wound up watching telly down the hall so his parents could sleep. Again, Jackie didn’t mind staying up with the little bug. Anyone else would say it was too soon to say but he got his dad’s goofy smile too. Jackie couldn’t have been the first to suggest how perfect and appropriate it was. Just before sunrise when Jackie and her grandchild finally fell asleep in front of the telly she took a moment to appreciate that with a growing baby TARDIS and a growing baby Doctor looking just like his dad when Rose met him, everything had come full circle. She couldn’t explain why, it was simply perfect. And she’d never admit to the Doctor she’d actually missed that face. Maybe.


	2. Once Upon a Time Traveler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The littlest Tyler asks his grandmother Jackie why he’s got darker hair than his dad, blue eyes, and funny ears one night while the Doctor and Rose are out on Torchwood business. Jackie answers with a story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been having grandma Jackie feels lately so here’s a follow up to Baby Blues (but it can stand on its own).

“Am I adopted?” 

 

On a quiet October evening the most precious creation in the universe uttered these words to Jackie Tyler and her heart cracked, just a little. Just enough. She thanked the stars her grandbaby’s parents weren’t around to hear it. Work was stressful enough, battling who knew what sort of aliens out there while she tucked their treasure safe into bed. They didn’t need this. This bright little kid’s mum had already put Jackie through the wringer about her own father - his namesake. It was only fitting this should befall her again. He was three years and seven months old and as smart as an alien’s kid ought to be, it was only a matter of time. 

 

She sat down on Peter’s bed beside him and tucked back his wily brown bangs, silently begging him not to cry. “What’re you on about? Course you’re not adopted. Nothin’ wrong with being adopted. But it so happens you aren’t,” she assured him softly, just above the autumn breeze knocking stray leaves against the windows. 

 

Her grandbaby’s little pink lips wobbled and the floodgates wavered but held fast as he huffed and puffed, “Tony said I don’t look like mummy n daddy.” Jackie briefly glanced over at the door, her mind already walking over to her purse in the kitchen to text her husband and tell him what  _ his  _ son said. In all caps. 

 

“How’d you go from that to figurin’ your adopted?”

 

His head arched over the pillow, eyes turning skyward at the window behind him. “Sally across the way, she’s got two daddies and she’s adopted. She said so.” 

 

“Oh darling,” Jackie sighed. “Everyone’s story is special.” He was scarcely paying attention, eyes taken adrift by the sparkles in the night sky. “So’s yours.”

 

And there was the eye roll. Just like his mum, no doubt about it. “Daddy’s an alien I know gran.”

 

Jackie sat up and huffed, much in the same fashion her grandbaby just did. “That’s part of it - ”

 

“And he flew about in time n space. Mummy n daddy tell me all the time.”

 

She folded her arms. “Alright then, clever you. You gonna listen now?” Jackie deepened her tone as she scooched back on his bed to lean up against the wall. “I’ve got the rest of it, if you wanna hear a story.”

 

Peter looked down from the window and nodded, wiggling like a puppy to turn about and rest his head on her thigh facing the window. She missed when Tony had the patience for her stories like this one still did. He settled down and watched the stars while he listened to his gran’s version of the story. 

 

“Once upon a time there was a lonely old alien. He had dark hair and funny ears and eyes bluer than the ocean.” 

 

“Gran you’re not telling it right. That’s not daddy. Daddy’s not old and he doesn’t have blue eyes,” Peter whined. Like any tot his age he wanted the same old story but that wasn’t what he’d hear that evening. 

 

“Just listen, will ya?” Peter sighed and nestled back in to listen. “The lonely old alien traveled through time and space, hoppin’ from planet to planet and time to time in his magic blue box. For centuries he did this, sometimes pickin’ up a friend or two and they’d have loads of fun -” 

 

“Saving the universe!” Peter beamed, head turning on her leg to glance at his parents’ photo on his nightstand. 

 

“That’s right love, they did. You might be wonderin’ then how a hero like that could be lonely.” Jackie would never forget how the pride in that little boy’s face darkened to a somber expression that was heartrendingly familiar. “The old time traveler’s fun stopped one day, because he learned that sometimes we’ve got to make tough choices when we try to do the right thing. He saved the universe like always. But he lost his friends along the way. So the lonely old alien climbed back into his magic blue box and hopped from planet to planet and time to time searchin’ for a new friend to show the universe to. Til one day his magic blue box hopped onto a tiny blue and green planet called Earth, and he met a young human lady in a shop.”

 

Jackie paused to allow him to interrupt but he was wrapped around her every word, his gaze peacefully cast skyward still. A little smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she pressed on. “The lonely old alien saw how brave and clever this young human was. Saved his life, she did. Did you know that?” Peter shook his head. “So even though the young human’s mummy begged her not to go,” (Okay that part was getting it out of order but it sounded more dramatic that way, Jackie thought. And if she could’ve she would’ve anyway.) “the lonely old man took the young human’s hand and whisked her off in his magic blue box. D’you know what they did then?”

 

“They hopped from planet to planet and time to time,” Peter chirped brightly. 

 

“That’s right love.” She pointed out the window. “Together they reached the farthest corners of the universe and beyond, growing closer and closer every day. The lonely old alien wasn’t lonely anymore now that he had this young human by his side. Til one day the lonely old alien and the young human were trying to stop some bullies from hurting everyone like always. Except this time the old alien was scared his companion might get hurt. He remembered the last time he tried to do the right thing he lost his friends, and he didn’t want to lose this one because she was special to him. So he asked his magic blue box to take his young human away to keep her safe, which of course it did. Took her right to her mummy, it did. But a mother always knows when her baby’s not happy. The young human didn’t want the old alien to be lonely or get hurt either, so her mummy helped her get back to him and watched as the magic blue box whisked her away again.

 

“The young human was so clever and brave she saved the old alien’s life again. But there was just one little problem. The old alien’s magic blue box was sooo powerful it was more than a little human could take. It was the alien’s turn to save the human. He took all that energy your mum used to save him and kept it from hurtin’ her. Except now he was hurt. But, the old alien had a trick up his sleeve, a trick that helped him live for centuries. That’s why the old alien was so old. Anyway, there was just one hitch to this magic trick. The magic was old and powerful, just like his blue box. D’you know what he did?” Peter shook his head. “The old alien’s trick was he could heal himself.”

 

“Like medicine?”

 

“Medicine his own body made, I suppose, yeah. Remember when your daddy tripped on your legos and wore that cast on his foot?” Peter again nodded. “Well. This healing the old alien does. It’s like that. But when the cast comes off, he’s got a whole new face. He couldn’t use the old one anymore. Didn’t go to waste though, he gave that face to his son.” 

 

The gears on Peter’s face turned quickly. He hopped out of bed and disappeared out of the room. Jackie slowly slid off the bed and listened to the thumping down the hall the mirror in his parents’ bedroom. She followed and watched the puzzle pieces come together on his face. Dark hair, funny ears, eyes bluer than the ocean. It was a wonder the little boy hadn’t asked his parents about it ages ago, even more so that they hadn’t gotten around to telling him. But they lived busy lives and in the quiet hours of the night missing his mummy and daddy these thoughts  _ would  _ want to pop up, Jackie mused. 

 

Questions formed in the little boy’s wrinkled brow as she came up behind him. He looked up at his gran, those same blue eyes she remembered from years ago peering up at her. Where she was expecting tears she found worry and confusion. She scooped him up into her arms and walked across the room to sit on the Doctor and Rose’s bed. 

 

“My daddy’s not old,” Peter protested. “He told me he’s five years old. He’s younger than Tony.”

 

Jackie smiled. “He’s not wrong.” 

 

“How d’you know all that?”

 

“Your dad told me one day. I had the same questions you do once.” 

 

“Yeah but. My daddy can’t do that magic trick.” He didn’t need to ask the question for Jackie to know what it was. 

 

“That’s right, he can’t. Remember when your mummy and daddy told you the story of how the found each other again?”

 

“That’s a different story, gran.”

 

“It’s not though.” His brow wrinkled further. Jackie patted the bed next to her and he scooted closer. “I reckon they’ve been workin’ out how to tell you. That’s probably why they haven’t. But your gran’s got experience in these sorts of things. Anywho. Shortly after the old alien time traveler pulled that magic trick and saved your mummy, he lost his hand. But wouldn’t you know, aliens are like lizards and grow parts back sometimes.” Jackie shuddered at the thought still, but not surprisingly the boy’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “There was just enough magic left in that hand to grow a whole other version of himself, with the help of a human friend.”

 

It wasn’t the bedtime story Jackie had intended it to be anymore, clearly. Peter might’ve had the old Doctor’s face but the new one appeared swiftly when he began to work out the other parts of the puzzle. He leaped up and paced around the bed for a moment before shouting. “MY DADDY’S A COPY,” he shouted. Dogs outside started barking and howling he was so loud. As he jumped off the bed and darted out the room again Jackie started to figure out precisely why the Doctor and Rose hadn’t told their son all of this. 

 

She found him in the living room an instant later, perched up against the little table where the TARDIS coral’s tank lived, its pale golden light shimmering against his little human face and eyes wide with rapt fascination. When he caught his gran in the tank’s reflection he whirled about and jumped up and down, grappling at her pants. 

 

“Gran gran gran gran gran!”

 

“I’ve got a feelin’ you’re gonna get me in trouble with your mum and dad.” 

 

“You said he was lonely. The other daddy.”

 

“Oh well, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sure he’s fine. Rather charming, your dad. Makes friends easy.”

 

“But what if he’s all alone? What if he’s sad? What if he needs us?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer before he started running laps around the coral tank’s table. “Gran! Daddy said this is gonna be a TARDIS some day! A magic blue box! We can use it to go find the other magic blue box and save the alien copy of my daddy.” 

 

Jackie’s palm moved to her chest in a feeble attempt to contain its swelling heart. She was at a loss for words with this one. 

 

“We can save him just like mummy saved him before, ‘cause we’ve got a baby blue box! One day! Can’t we, gran?” 

 

“Stranger things have happened.” 

 

It took Jackie a good while to work down the energy Peter built up from that. A good while, a cup of milk, another (more relaxing) bedtime story, and a bit of negotiation. In the morning a very tuckered out Doctor and Rose would find their little boy tucked away in their bed. Like their son they got little sleep the night before, and joined him there. Jackie slipped out before they could wake up and ask how the night had gone, knowing full well she’d get a ring from Rose later when Peter relayed his brilliant plan to them. There was no doubt about it, he was definitely their child. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
